10 Reasons to Say No to Sugar

I taught high school for two years, and in that short amount of time, I learned soooooo much – about people, about life, and about stories. I was lucky with the principal and assistant principal that I had during those two years. Though neither of them specialized in teaching English, they taught me everything I needed and more, encouraging me along the way.

One of the main things they taught me (and this will stay with me the rest of my life) is that when you ask someone to do something, you need to explain “why” they are doing it. This gives them a goal, and ultimately, a purpose. There is nothing more powerful you can give to a student than purpose. It’s my belief, coming out of this philosophy of teaching, that the same works for adults. We find purpose when we ask why we are doing what we are doing. On this blog, we’ve already talked about how important it is to find purpose in everything you do. Another tip to finding purpose is to ask this question: “Why am I doing this?”

Now, I have invited you to join in “No Sugar September” with me, so I at least need to give you some reasons why…

And so we come to the ultimate question: Why should I stop eating sugar?

10 Reasons to Say No to Sugar

1) Sugar poisons you.

We have known for a long time now that sugar can be a cause of cancer. It’s a slow poison, leading to an extensive range of diseases, illnesses, and syndromes. This includes, but is not limited to cancer, diabetes, heart & blood problems, and a multitude of other health issues.

2) Sugar affects your mood.

Sugar is now being shown to cause depression, and even has links to nervousness & anxiety. It has an enormous effect on people with schizophrenia. And the effect it has on hormones is extraordinary. This in itself is a huge reason to cut out sugar. Even after a few days off sugar, I’m less moody. And I seem to be happier.

3) Sugar rots your brain.

Not surprisingly, a continuous diet of refined sugar has been shown to lead to Alzheimer’s, dementia, and Parkinson’s disease. It’s also known to create brain-decay in pre-diabetic and diabetic women.

4) Sugar destroys your gut function.

In the book Suicide by Sugar, Appleton & Jacobs call sugar the “number one enemy of the bowel movement”. It slows down food in the gastrointestinal tract, destroys the enzyme phosphatase (which hinders digestion) as well as lowering other enzymes’ functioning ability, causes inflammation and constipation, and feeds Candida Albicans (or yeast infections). It’s possible that this can lead to food allergies as well.

5) Sugar is detrimental to your children’s health, as well as their education.

We know that sugar makes kids hyper – but it’s not just that. Sugar reduces one’s capacity for learning whether through lethargy or fatigue that comes with a sugar crash. In children, anxiety is higher and concentration is lower. Sugared children, statistically, are shown to have lower grades, and there is evidence that sugar can cause learning disorders in children.

6) Sugar destroys not just your teeth, but your eyes as well.

You’ve been told to lay off sodas by your dentist – we all know that sugar rots our teeth and gives us cavities. What I was surprised to learn is that sugar can be a cause of cataracts – as well as near-sightedness.

7) Sugar is highly, highly addictive – it’s a drug.

Evidence in animal research consistently show that, when given a choice over an extended period of time, the tested animal always ends up choosing sugar more often than cocaine. This is echoed by the opinions of ex-drug addicts, who say that the addiction is more or less the same.

8) Sugar affects the way you look.

Don’t want to age pre-maturely or to increase the amount of varicose veins as you age? Don’t eat refined sugar. It can alter the structure of collagen, making you all wrinkly before your time. And because sugar intake often decreases your vitamin/mineral intake, your skin won’t glow as much, either – not too mention the link between acne and sugar. Too much sugar, we know, also leads to obesity and obese people continue a cycle of eating an excessive amount food. And that doesn’t make anyone feel good about how they look.

9) Eating sugar causes vitamin & mineral deficiencies.

People who eat a lot of sugar are found to be copper, chromium, calcium, magnesium, and Vitamin E deficient because sugar intake messes up balance in mineral relationships. It also seems to mess up protein absorption.

10) Refined sugar has very little, if any, health benefit.

I mean, how can it? Most foods have a good side and a bad side. But, there’s not much that can be said for white, processed, refined sugar.